------------------ On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children and 6 staff, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Connecticut, and then killed himself. The school shooting occurred after he had shot and killed his mother, a volunteer at the school, at their nearby Newtown home. It was the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

After shooting his mother Nancy Lanza, age 54, Adam drove her car to the school. The killing of his mother at their house made the overall death toll 27, in the day's rampage, not counting Adam. His older brother Ryan Lanza was mistakenly identified as the shooter in early reports by media organizations, and was later voluntarily questioned by the New Jersey Police, the Connecticut State Police, and FBI, though he was not considered a suspect or taken into custody. Ryan's identification was found on Adam Lanza's body.